msi Comments on How NOT to Retain Top Talent

Now here’s an interesting take on recruiting and retaining talent: what NOT to do.

While there are countless ways for companies to show they neither value nor trust their employees, Forbes columnist Liz Ryan has documented the top ten strategies for sending them packing, from stack ranking to death by policy. Read the Forbes article here: http://ow.ly/w21pU

Stack ranking, for those unfamiliar with the term, is the quaint old-fashioned practice of assigning each employee a value ranking, and, the article suggests that it is the one most in need of abolition. While it might be fun to be number one, what’s it like to be 1,111?

Death by policy is both literal and figurative: a rules and regulations manifesto that would not only kill you if it fell on you, but one that would also eliminate every last shred of engagement.

Other offenders include banning social media in the office (say so long to your millennials!), outsourcing HR support (to call centers in other galaxies), and requiring doctor’s notes/death certificates for sick days and bereavement leave.

Then there’s the concept of paying for your own desk, phone, and other tools of the trade. Not for contractors or temporary workers, but salaried on-site employees.

What the article ultimately advocates is HR with a human voice and the notion of trust. To retain valued employees, both are necessary. And for those that disagree … well no need to wonder where their talent went. They’re working for the competition.